Safe lock



Qca. 28. 1924.

SAFE LOCK Filed April Patented ct. 28, 1924.

UNITE ()FFl C SAFE LOCK.

Application filed April 2, 1923. Serial No. 629,391.

2 '0 all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, NORMAN E. DONOHUE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cambridge, in the county of Guernsey and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safe Locks, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in safes, and has particular reference to a de Vice in the nature of an attachment, whereby the lock may be located at a point remote from the spindle, and be operated thereby, but beingsafe from in ury or removal, by the driving-1n of the spindle, as it is a practice by burglars, 1n the openlng of safes.

An important object ofthe 1nvent1on is to provide an attachment of the above mentioned character, which is of extremely simple construction, and which is designed for use in connection with the lock found upon the ordinary safe door, without materially altering the construction of the lock, or other parts of the safe.

The usual method employed 1n break ng into safes, is to first break off the lock dial. The spindle is then driven out of its operative position into the safe. In the ord nary safe, this driving-in of the broken spindle, takes the lock off with it, whereby the door may be readily opened. In some safes, the door will not open, when the lock 1s broken in this manner, as the safes are equipped with a lock dog, which would lock'the safe closed. But this is readily overcome, by reaching through the spindle hole,. w1th a piece of wire or the like, and tr pping the lock dog, whereby the safe is readily opened.

In accordance with my invention I provide a support for the lock which is ordi-' na-rily mounted upon or in proximity to the spindle of the safe. This support isseparate from and detachable wlth the lunar side of the safe door and may be locate[d at 't 181 any remote point from the spindle. preferred that the distance be conslderable, and the distance may be varied in connection with each particular safe, if desired. A'support is provided for a shaft which is geared to the tumblers and also geared to the spindle. As a result of this, the same tumbler lock which is furnished with the ordinary safe, may be thus located upon the safe door at a point remote from the spindle, without in any way materially changing the construction of the lock, or other parts of the safe. The asmuch as in no way same, and when the spindle is thus driven-in, 1t is virtually impossible to operate the lock, for manipulating the tumblers. It is certainly more diflicult than operating the tumblers from the usual lock dial. Further, by placing the lock at a point remote from the spindle and driving from the spindle through the medium of gearing, the feeling of the operation of the tumblers, as they pick up, by the so-called finger artist is impossible.

Other objects and advantages of the inventlon will be apparent duringthe course of the following description.

v In the accompanying drawings forming a arrangement is advantageous inthe driving-1n of the spindle can Part of this Specification, and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

a higure 1 1s a fragmentary side elevation of asafe door, from the outer side, and,

F gure 2 is a longitudinal section taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1. I

In the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, the numeral 5 designates a safe door, which may be formed of inner and outer the usualfire proof lining formed integral "with the. outer plate 7, for pivotally receiving the spindle 10 of the usual lock. disk 11.

A. safe as ordinarily placed upon the market, is equipped with a lock, embodying a casing and tumblers, which is mounted at the inner end of the'sleeve 9, and the tum blers are manipulated by the spindle. ,The tumblers of course control the operation of the bolts.

In accordance with the present invention, I provide a support, preferably embodying a pair of brackets 12. I may mount one of these pairs of brackets upon one side of the spindle, or I may mount two or more pairs, two pairs being shown for the purpose of illustration. The brackets 12 are provided at their ends adjacentthe plate 6 with horizontal portions 13, whichare secured to the plate 6 by'bolts or machine screws 14. It is obvious that it will be necessary to drill holes in the plate 6, for securing the brackets thereto, and it will also be seen that these brackets may be located at any desired sedrive off the lock or injure the metal plates 6 and 7, with 8. A sleeve 9vis This spindle carries the look lected position, with respect to the sleeve 9. In making a new safe, these brackets may be cast integral with the plate 6.

The ordinary or standard lock supplied by the manufacturer, with the safe, is shown as mounted upon the brackets 12, this lock having been purposely removed from its position adjacent the sleeve 9, where it was attached to the plate 6 by screws or the like. This lock embodies a casing 15, provided with a centrally arranged tube or sleeve 15. Arranged within this casing are a plurality of tumblers 16, rotatable upon the sleeve 15, and an operating element or cam 17. The operating element or cam 17 is internally screw-threaded to receive the reduced screwthreaded end 18 of the spindle, upon which it is adapted to be keyed. The reduced screw-threaded portion 13 is adapted to 1'0- tate within the sleeve 15, but has no screw threaded engagement therewith. When the lock is removed from proximity to the sleeve 9 and mounted upon the brackets 12, the sleeve 15 rotatably receives the spindle 20, which is screw-threaded at its outer end for engagement with the operating element 17, and this spindle has a groove 21, corresponding to the groove 39, for the reception of the key. The spindle 20 is provided at its end adjacent the plate 6 with a bevel gear 22, preferably formed integral therewith. In the present instance, I have shown two locks 15, one of these locks being removed from the ordinary position, and the second lockbeing of similar construction, which may be readily obtained in the market. The invention is in no sense restricted to the use of any particular number of looks, as satisfactory results are obtainable by using only one look, but the number may be widely varied, as found advantageous.

The bevel gears 22 are engaged by bevel gears 23, which are longitudinally adjustably mounted upon the operating shafts 2&. These shafts have their outer ends screwthreaded, at 25, for engaging within screwthreaded openings formed in the hubs of the bevel gears 23. The screw-threaded ends 25 are provided with grooves26, for receiving keys 27, also fitting in grooves formed in the bevel gears. It is thus seen that the bevel gears 23 may be rotated and thereby longitudinally adjusted upon the shafts 24:, and subsequently locked in adjustment thereto, by means of the keys 27. The screw-threaded portions 25 of these shafts rotate within openings 28, which have smooth walls, and hence there is no scre\ -threaded engagementbetween these parts- At the inner ends of the shafts 24 I provide brackets 29, having openings 30, which rotatably receive the screw-threaded inner ends 31 of the shafts 24. The walls of these openings are smooth and hence there is no screw -threaded engagement: between the parts. A ring 31 has screw-threaded engagement with the inner end of each shaft 24, and is locked thereon by a clamp or bolt 32 or the like. The brackets 29 are separate from the plate 6 and are secured thereto by machine screws 33 or the like. The brackets 29 may be cast integral with the plate 6, when making a new safe, if desired. Bevel gears 34 have screw-threaded openings, for receiving the screw-threaded inner ends of the rods 24, and these bevel gears are held against turning movement upon the rods by keys 35, inserted in grooves 36 in the shafts 2 1, and in the bevel gears.

Arranged'between the bevel gears 3a is a bevel gear 37, engaging therewith. This bevel gear has a screw-threaded opening for receiving the reduced portion 18- of the spindle. The gear 37 is held upon this reduced portion 18 against turning movement,- by a key 38, fitting in a groove 39, formed in the reduced portion 18, and in a groove in the bevel gear. It is preferred that the inner end of the spindle 10 be screw-threaded, as shown at 40, for receiving a ring 451, internally screw-threaded, which ring may be clamped to. the spindle by a set screw 12 or the like. v

In view of the foregoing description it will be seen that the lock dial 11 is turned in the, usual manner, for turning the spindle 10, and this turning movement will turn the shafts 24. The shafts will rotate the operating cams or elements 17 which in turn will manipulate the tumblers. 16. If a burglar should drive the spindle 10- inwardly, out of the sleeve 9, itis obvious that the locks 15 would not be disturbed, and hence'the door would not open.

In view of the foregoing description it is obvious that I have provided a construction which is in the nature of an attachment, and may be applied to almost any make of safe, for supporting the lock contained therein, at a pointremote from the spindle, without materially altering the construction of the;

loc kor other parts of the safe.

it is to be understood that the, form of my invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred embodimentof my invention, and that various changes inthe shape, size, and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim: 7

1. The combination with a safe door. pro vided with a rotatable spindle having a.

screw threaded. end portion, of a support:

separate from the door and detachably mounted thereon at a point remotefrom the spindle, a shaft carried by the support, a gear mounted upon the inner end of the shaft, a gear having a screw threaded opening for receiving the screw threaded portion of the spindle and engaging the first named gear, a lock casing mounted upon said support, rotatable elements held within the lock casing and having their planes of rotation substantially parallel with the plane of the door, one element serving as a driving element and having a screw threaded opening, an auxiliary spindle mounted within the lock casing and having a screw threaded portion of the same diameter as the screw threaded portion of the first named spindle whereby the auxiliary spindle may be employed to operate the driving element of the look, a gear "mounted upon said shaft, and a gear mounted upon the auxiliary spindle and engaging the last named gear.

2. The combination with a safe door provided with a rotatable spindle, of a support mounted upon the door at a point remote from the spindle and having an opening;

formed therein, a shaft having a screw threaded portion which is provided with a longitudinal groove, said shaft being rotatably mounted within the support, a gear having a screw threaded opening and mounted upon the screw threaded portion of the shaft to be longitudinally adjustable thereon, a key for insertion within the groove to lock the gear to the shaft for rotation therewith, a lock casing mounted upon the support, rotatable elements held within the lock casing and having their planes of rotation parallel with the plane of the door, one element serving as a driving element, a spindle engaging the driving element, a gear carried by the last named spindle and engaging said gear, a gear mounted upon the inner end of said shaft, and a gear mounted upon the first named spindle and engaging the last named gear.

3. The combination with a safe door pro-' vided with a rotatable spindle extending,

a portion of the, same diameter as the come i sponding portion of thesaid spindle whereby, the auxiliary spindle may be inserted within the opening of the driving element of the look, a gear mounted upon the first,

named spindle, a gear mounted upon the auxiliary spindle, and driving means between said gears.

4:. The combination with a safe door provided with a rotatable spindle, of a lock cas-- a point remote ing mounted upon the door at from said spindle,rotatable elements held within the lock casing and having their planes of rotation substantially parallel with the plane of the door, one element serving as a driving element, a spindle engaging the driving element, a gear carried by the last named spindle, between the first and second named spindles, a gear mounted upon the shaft for engagement with the first named gear, means whereby the] gear upon the shaft may be longitudinally adjusted and locked to the shaftin a selected adjusted position, a gear mounted upon the first named spindle, and a gear mounted upon said shaft and engaging the gear of the first-named spindle.

In testimony whereof'I aflix my signature.

NORMAN E. DONOHUE.

a shaft extending 

